The invention relates to a method of making an engine transmission bellhousing and especially to making an engine transmission bellhousing without a flex plate and which fits a plurality of engines.
One of the fastest growing sports in the world today is that of automobile racing. As modern technological improvements have leapt forward in areas of power plants, fuels, metallurgy and the like, competitive racing has employed vehicles of previously unknown performance incorporating a variety of components which are subjected to extremely high torque levels, parts turning ratios, high forces of kinetic energy absorption and extreme load bearing and handling characteristics.
Under the stress of such high vehicle performance during competition, component part breakdown is often occasioned, resulting in explosion, fire, fumes and immediate release of quantities of petroleum products such as oil and gas. Obviously, moving parts turning at a high r.p.m. constitute a particular hazard when parts failure occurs. One of the most sensitive components of a high performance vehicle is the transmission and the flywheel which form a part of the vehicle power drive train. Generally, when a part failure is experienced, the transmission housing and the flywheel bell housing are subjected to extremely high internal explosives pressures which cause the housing to shatter into shrapnel fragments moving at ballistic velocities and endangering both the driver and equipment. Furthermore, spectators to a competitive event may also be endangered by such shrapnel. Accompanying such an explosion is the presence of flames and fumes nourished by the onrushing airstream which is directed into the driver's cockpit of the vehicle.
Attempts have been made in the past to provide protection against the effects of explosion by the use of steel or flexible shields. Such a device may be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 2,724,378 which discloses a device specifically adapted to act as a safety cover for an internal combustion engine. The cover is rigid and is pivotally mounted on top of the engine and provides for swinging about the pivot connection under the pressure of an internal explosion.
Other U.S. patents directed towards shields for a bellhousing in transmissions may be seen in the Massel U.S. Pat. No. 5,193,415, for a continuous radial shield for automobile transmissions and in the Clark U.S. Pat. No. 3,455,409, for a Transmission Shield. The Abbott U.S. Pat. No. 3,491,847, is for an Explosion Cover while the Le Salver U.S. Pat. No. 3,805,911, is a Vehicle Provided with an Energy Absorbing Device covering an engine drive unit. The Khanna U.S. Pat. No. 4,308,931, is a Guard for a Drive Shaft.
The present invention, on the other hand, deals with a replacement bellhousing especially for use in automobile racing which eliminates the need for the flex shield and simultaneously is adapted to fit a wide variety of engines in the replacement of the bellhousings that come on the engines. The present bellhousing covering the flywheel protects the occupant of a vehicle and others from the disintegration of the flywheel or other components within the bellhousing by the blocking and absorbing of the energy from exploding parts without having to have a flex shield to absorb the energy by the selection of materials which absorb the energy. The redesigning of the bellhousing allows the attachment to any one of a plurality of different engines without weakening the bellhousing.